An Unknown History
by Wildhart
Summary: Karigan confronts her father on his past, and listens to his story and as usual my godly muse sticks his nose in, just a short story that may lead into a bigger one i dont know yet


Disclaimer: doesn't belong to me I'm just borrowing for a while (except Kencaris, he is mine)

Note: I wrote this after reading High King's Tomb only once so any mistakes are purely mine and mine alone, this hasn't been bataed at all so all spelling mistakes are mine as well

An Unknown History

Karigan had been pleased when Captain Mapstone had asked her to run the new uniform request to her father,, she knew the captain had thought it a chance to send one of her best riders home for a few days, and had even told her to take her time with the errand. But to Karigan it was a chance to have some words with her father about the secrets of his past she had discovered recently

Her joy of the errand had paled some with the annoying light rain that soaked though her clothing and though to her bones she felt, and it left her miserable and in a black mood when she finally arrived at the Clan G'lahedron Household

She waved off the stable hands that rushed out to meet her and saw to Condor herself trying hard to do what she had been trying to do all the way, work out what she was going to say to her father

As she finished rubbing down her faithful chestnut gelding she felt a presence behind her, she turned to see her father himself leaning in the stall door

"were you not going to greet your father?, you have been out her for over an hour"

She reached for the message satchel she had hung from the pommel of condor's saddle where she had hung it after untacking him

"a message for you from Captain Mapstone" she handed the message to him her tone bitter "oh and Silva of the golden rudder passes on her good wishes" she turned back to condor not missing the shocked look on her fathers face

"when you have done join me in my office and we will talk, I will have supper ready for you there" he sighed resigned for the long tale and bad memories the talk would drag up

When Karigan entered the office she saw her father sat in one of the two easy chairs set buy the fire, hunched forward nursing a full brandy glass and staring at a small table that held the promised super and an unusual deity figure, she had seen it before usually on her fathers bookshelf acting as a bookend, she had always believed it a gift of some kind.

She sat in the second chair and studied the figure also It was of a man getting up form a kneeling position but his arms were held by chains tethered behind him but so tensed that the links were braking with the strain of the man.

"I also know you were on a known pirate vessel Gold Hunter as a crewman" she looked up at her father "what else don't I know?"

"I wont ask how you know that but it makes things a bit easer as that's where everything started" her father sighed and put the untouched brandy to one side

"yes I was on the Gold Hunter, recorded down as a crewman, as were 2 other lads, but I was the only one who survived, you see we were not crew in anyway and in my case a runaway trying to find my way in the world stolen and forced to become a virtual slave on that ship"

Karigan gasped and looked at the hunted expression in her fathers eyes as he stared t the flickering flamed in the fire place

"it was not pleasant my life on that ship and I would have died if a storm hadn't blown the ship off course and destroyed the main mast, we limped on for a week or so, until we came across a harbour, unknown to us and chained off. I don't know what passed between the captain and the harbour masters but they lowered the harbour guard chain and let us in but we were all forbidden to leave the ship.

To make doubly sure I could not jump ship or be seen by these strangers I was chained in the back of the holds beaten and ordered not to make a sound.

Being in the hold I could here the voices of the crew though the deck cargo hatch and I heard them discussing the women of this land and how they seemed to order the men around. one crewman, who thought he was one for the lades boasted often of how he would put the women in there place. I don't know what happened till a few days later but a strange young man I couldn't see him clearly in the dark hold sat beside me and just smiled as the screaming and fighting started above me. The young man turned to me and smiled

"one day" he said his lopsided grin looking very mischievous "Men will learn not to rape a woman who has a sword, especially in a land where that is the biggest crime you can commit against their Goddess"

he smiled and looked up at the dim light filtering though the cargo hatch grating the sounds of fighting dieing down

"there killing them all in punishment, but not you" he poked me gently in the chest "your protected don't worry I will see to that"

And with that he got up and walked away grin still on his face, I herd his feet on the steps well I thought they were his footsteps. but the steps got closer and a lantern was lit and held up revealing me and the chain and when the lantern was put to one side I saw the holder was a auburn haired woman with a bare sword and a mountain of a man beside her, he was decorated almost all over his body with tattoos and held a short wooden staff

The pair spoke in a language unknown to me but the man pointed to the chain and then reached down to my chest, my eyes followed his hand down and he lifted a pendant that hung round my neck, a pendant I hadn't had on before the strange visitor had touched me on the chest

The woman spoke again to the man and then left, he smiled ant me and using the staff he held levered the chain from its anchoring on the hold wall. Passing the chain to me he indicated for me to follow

For the next year I found myself amongst the strangest people I had ever known, with them I learnt to live again and regain my freedom and with the help of the woman Kaylin An'Yala and her son Coradesh, you know him as your uncle Cory, I found my vocation working on his trading runs and in return for the work I did for him he helped me set up my own business

But I owe everything I am to that young man who comforted me in the hold, I found out though some times subtle and sometimes direct questions that his name was Kencaris, and he was a god, that one surprised me. He was the god of slaves and freedom and the pendant, his mark, was what saved me from the fate of the crew, and apparently he often takes a personal approach to helping his followers.

I asked often what he wanted in return for my freedom, what sacrifice or offering, it was one of the priests in the small shrine just outside Kalinya who told me what Kencaris would only ever ask for as repayment

"Now one who is rescued personally from a bad situation by the god himself needs to pay back the debt" he told me "and the only way to do that is do as he did and free other soles from a captive situation"

I was given that chance years later when I found a girl being abused and starved and kept in virtual poverty while another profited in the abuse of there bodies, the one leading the abuse was her own father. It was hard but I rescued her from that situation that Girl was Silva

in helping her set up the Golden Rudder, she made it a safe place where the girls are looked after and protected but only earn a living that way if they want to but do so free from the abuse and mistreatment that they came from and given the opportunity at all times to leave to make there own life, and to that end I promised a small amount of coins to help them with there new life

I visit often to see how every one is doing or to settle in a new girl I have rescued, I still do that when I can. I have even met Kencaris again a few times since then, twice at the Rudder

Karigan sat back in her seat after her fathers' story

"but what of An'Yala and her people, why were they different, tell me something of them you didn't really explain much of them"

"I wish I could but I am bound to keep their secrets, but I was asked that when you are old enough take you and introduce you to them and in this time of need the King may need the help of Mercenaries like themselves who have fought against various magic's in the past and even have magical protection of their own"

Karigan left here fathers with more questions than she arrived with, but at least now she knew he was still the good man she always knew him to be

As Condor trotted on down the road she thought on the message here father had handed her and the promised trip to these strange people who here father owed his life to

She arrived at an inn that evening still troubled, she groomed Condor deep in thought when some one coughed near by

Another traveller was seeing to his steal dapple grey mount in the next stable

"you seem deep in thought" he grinned "that one spot on your gelding is looking mighty shinny"

She sighed and packed Condor's stuff away and bent down to pick up here packs only to find them in the arms of the stranger

"Richard Lucas", he introduced himself holding a hand out to her

His nature was friendly but she was wary and he seemed to sense that

"don't worry I'm harmless I just didn't fancy eating alone" he looked at her with a lopsided mischievous grin "your not my type so don't worry bout that, and besides the wife would beet me black and blue and then invite my mother to have a few lumps as well" he laughed " such is life in a family where the women lead in a world of men, father and I just nod our heads and follow orders"

He offered his arm again and she shrugged and decided to take it, believing she could manage an un armed man well that was until he picked up his own packs a sword laid across the top

He laughed seeing her reaction to the sword

"don't worry you probably could defeat me, even my wife can beat me, I'm not the best swordsman by a long shot, I only carry it as it's a family tradition the Heir of the family carries it and not even the gods themselves would want to stand up to my grandfathers temper"

They settled down in the Inn Common room for a pleasant meal, Richard was lively and fun company, telling stories of his mother and wife who worked there way up in a world of men to become military commanders and even heroes in their own rights, he even walked her to her room before heading to his own

Karigan was up early and headed down to the stables to ready Condor for the rest of there journey home to find the dapple grey gone and a note on Condor's stable door

_Thank you for listening to your father, the Gods have there work for both of you so please trust in him and in the Kaylin when you finally meet them, and thank you for the company last night _

_Richard __Kencaris__ Wildhart-Lucas_

_Karigan looked amassed at the note if it was to believed by the highlighted word in his name, the young man last night was the same who had helped her father those years ago and was still helping him it seemed she smiled and set out in a more cheerful frame of mind and feeling lighter as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders not looking behind her, if she had she would have seen two riders both on winged stallions one on a midnight black steed the other on a steel dapple grey both were observed by only one creature a small white cat say on a nearby fence post _

"_we have a lot of work ahead" the one on the black says as they fade away_

"_don't we always" says the other with a lopsided grin _

_Some herd the ghostly voices but even the little white cat who was used to these things thought it could have been the wind._


End file.
